


Into The Woods (and back home again)

by Anannua



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, F/M, Fairy Tale Style, Family, Family Feels, Gen, Happy Ending, Jinchuuriki Kushina, Lost Child, very casual magic use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:40:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25041796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anannua/pseuds/Anannua
Summary: One day, Gaara wanders away from his family and gets lost in the woods.
Relationships: Gaara & Uzumaki Naruto, Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina
Comments: 4
Kudos: 34





	Into The Woods (and back home again)

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of Naruto Fantasy Week taking place on Tumblr!

“Here. How about this?”

“What’s that?”

Naruto shook his head. “It’s a snail. That's too slippery! Put it back. We’re looking for something way cooler.”

His brother shrugged and put down the slimy little animal.

“Like what?”

“Like a dragon! Or a monster! Or. Or… uh I dunno! Something cool.”

“Cool?”

“Yeah!” The blonde boy turned back to his brother with a broad grin. “Something so cool that Sasuke and Sakura will say how neat it is!”

The other boy tried not to pout.

“You _always_ go out with Sakura and Sasuke. I wish you’d spend more time with me, Naruto.”

Naruto turned at once to hug his younger brother in both arms. “Cheer up, Gaara! Daddy says that if your color gets better then you can come play with me! That’ll be fun! We can run around and play Knights and Ninjas. Sometimes we even bully Kakashi and Yamato into teaching us cool tricks! Wanna see one?”

Gaara’s green eyes lit up excitedly.

“Please?” He asked, his sourness forgotten.

Naruto grinned. He loved to see Gaara’s smile! Quickly he took out rope and the short knives Kakashi had lent him. Looping them together, he kicked a tree. Three leaves fell and Naruto threw the knives in quick order.

Gaara gasped to see the leaves strung through on the thin wire.

“Naruto, that was neat!”

Naruto smiled proudly.

“Here. Let’s find a cool stone and make a necklace of it! Maybe you can wear it like Daddy does!”

Gaara quickly agreed. He would love to have a necklace like Minato. Their father looked very handsome in his golden necklace.

Their search for shiny stones took them through a strange part of the forest. He tried to keep up but Gaara felt his strength fail him again. He’d always been short of breath since he could remember. His body seemed different from his brother’s. Broken before he’d been born. His skin was too pale and his breathing was difficult always.

Some days he feared that he couldn’t be Naruto’s real brother, or Minato’s real son. He didn’t have their sunshine yellow hair or golden tan skin. But they called him theirs and that was enough for Gaara, though sometimes he hated his pale skin and red red hair.

Something seemed to sparkle. Gaara’s eyes flickered to it. A pretty purple flower with delicate little petals! It was the most lovely thing he’d ever seen. He found himself plucking it and bringing it up to smell. He closed his eyes and breathed in gently. How wonderful it seemed! He had to show Naruto.

 _No_ , a voice whispered in the back of his mind.

Gaara stopped. How odd. His own brain had two different thoughts, it seemed…

The beautiful smell caught his attention. Again he sniffed it, shutting his eyes and breathing in. It was divine.

It was too good to share.

Without further ado he brought it to his lips and ate it at once.

Gaara’s eyes opened eventually. He felt foolish. Why had he eaten the flower? He had meant to share it with his brother. It looked so nice. Now it was gone. Embarrassed, he decided to stop looking for a stone for his necklace and sought out his brother. Together they went home.

* * *

That night sleep never came.

* * *

The next night was the same.

* * *

Again and again Gaara laid down his head to find rest only to have sleep escape him. His father noticed within a day but waited until four to take him aside long after Naruto went to bed.

“Lately, you don’t seem tired.”

Gaara gave up the tale of his day exploring with Naruto nervously. His father winced when he mentioned eating the strange plant and Gaara swallowed in worry.

“Oh, Gaara… Never ever eat things you find growing in the forest. I know I’ve given you this lesson before. I’m sorry I didn’t teach it well enough the first time.”

“It isn’t your fault, dad,” Gaara said quickly. “I forgot! And now I can’t rest…”

Minato smiled for him, though it looked strained.

“No worries. I have a few warlock friends. I’ll go to them and see what they know about sleeplessness. I’ll be gone a few days. In that time, promise me you’ll stay with Naruto?”

Gaara bowed his head shamefully. “You have to go because of me?”

“Not because of you! You aren’t a burden,” Minato said straight away. “It’s because I love you, and I want to make you better. I just can’t take you with me. Where I need to go is no place for children.”

His red haired son gulped, swallowing his tears. Minato sighed and took Gaara into his arms, gathering the small boy of six against his chest. Naruto nearby rolled over in sleep, mumbling softly his brother’s name. Minato smiled to hear it.

“See? Naruto knows you’re sad. Let’s cheer up. I’ll make arrangements in the morning to find you some cure.”

Gaara nodded and watched his father fall to sleep. He sat up, unable to rest and unable to fall asleep. Some worry in his heart began to unfurl like a seed taking root.

* * *

Minato set off in the morning light and was gone.

The next few days Gaara grew restless at night. During the days Naruto played with Sasuke and Sakura. Sometimes Kakashi or Yamato would come over to help make breakfast or dinner. At night Gaara found himself watching the window of their house while Naruto slept.

The stars he’d only seen a few times before became known to him. They looked so beautiful. More than that they looked lonesome. Always standing still, caught up in the vast skies, twinkling in place.

One night Gaara saw a single star twinkle and twist and fall from the sky.

Amazed, he rushed out of the house and hurried into the forest. His eyes adjusted to the darkness and he found himself deep within the woods. Somehow he wasn’t scared at all. His breathing came quickly but easily. His footsteps felt light as air.

Gaara smiled the biggest smile and headed for the little glowing light up ahead.

* * *

“He’s _gone_ ,” Naruto wailed, inconsolable.

Kakashi and Yamato both shared a worried glance. “Calm down, Naruto. He’s not been sleeping well recently. Let’s just take a deep breath and look around. I’m sure he’s somewhere.”

They turned Minato’s house inside out with no results. Kakashi used magic to summon some tracking spirits. They were wisps of blue flame in the shape of dogs. The wisps barked and pointed their blue noses to the floor, flickering out of sight.

“Look here! Footprints. Let’s see which way they go.”

Naruto took off at a sprint. Luckily, Yamato snatched him up in time, stopping right at the edge of the Deep Woods.

Kakashi cussed at their poor luck.

“If he’s gone in _there,_ we’ll need help,” he muttered. “Naruto, I need to contact your father. You’ll have to stay with Sasuke’s family for a while.”

Naruto sobbed, too upset to be excited about the potential sleep over.

* * *

Minato took the news as well as he could upon his return. “You used a tracking spirit?”

“And found his footprints. He’s gone into the Deep Woods. We’re certain.”

“Then we have no choice. A search party will be assembled. Where is Naruto?”

“He’s with Obito’s family,” Kakashi said soothingly. “Don’t worry. He’ll be safe there. We’ll find Gaara.”

Yamato nodded. The father sighed deeply. His heart was heavy.

* * *

Sasuke found his playmate in a poor mood. He tried several times to make Naruto play with him, only to be ignored. That put Sasuke in a foul mood himself. He left Naruto huffily to find someone else to play with. His older brother frowned with disappointment when he found Sasuke all alone.

“Weren’t you meant to keep him company?”

“Why should I? He’s in a terrible way!”

“I would be too, if I lost you, Sasuke. Didn’t Obito-nii say? Gaara is lost in the Deep Woods.”

Sasuke looked stricken at the thought.

“His younger brother is missing…”

“Exactly. He must be feeling very poorly indeed. It’s up to us to cheer him up. Here. I’ll go with you.”

But when they went to find Naruto, he was gone. In his place was a little note with indecipherable scrawl.

Itachi brought it to Obito at once.

The older boy, an expert in childish writing, easily parsed it out.

“ _Don’t worry about minding me. I’ll find him. Tell daddy not to worry. Naruto_. Where did you find this?”

Sasuke miserably confessed. “I was supposed to play with him. Now he’s _gone_!”

Itachi took him in both arms, hushing him. Obito looked worried.

“Minato will be distressed. Where is Kakashi? This can’t wait. We must go into the Deep Woods after him at once!”

Yamato looked shocked to see Obito so soon after dropping off Naruto. When Obito explained the situation, Yamato’s face grew grim, and he called for Kakashi. Kakashi and Obito agreed to tell Minato together the bad news.

* * *

The last of Minato’s cheer went out of him. He thanked them hollowly and returned to his house, speared by grief. Yamato grew frustrated to see the joyful man so overcome with sadness, and begged Kakashi and Obito to go into the Deep Woods with him.

“Together, surely we’ll find them.”

“It’s very dangerous,” Kakashi warned. “And we can’t split up. Traveling the Deep Woods alone is asking for trouble.”

“We should go together,” Obito agreed. “They’re children. They can’t have gone far.”

All three teenagers agreed. Obito instructed Itachi to keep a firm grip on Sasuke. Sasuke wanted to go help search for his friend but Itachi held him fast. They gave the older brother instructions to inform Minato and then headed off into the woods side by side.

* * *

Gaara found the little light at last. He watched the tiny star glisten and glow, floating in the forest air. It bobbed here and there in an odd pattern. It was queer and unusual. The little star flickered and went dim. Then it flickered back on, and off again; it was a firefly and not a star at all.

The little bug lit the way for Gaara to walk along the forest floor. He didn’t mind that there was no moon to see by, or that the stars in the sky had gone dark. The forest around him was quiet and cool, and it was easy for him to breathe here. He followed the blinking bug here and there.

Eventually it seemed strange to Gaara that the night had lasted _so_ long.

He looked up at the sky through the trees trying to see the horizon, to tell if dawn or dusk was nearing.

The he turned back to see the firefly, there were two.

The two fireflies seemed to blink in time with one another as though they were connected. Then there came a rustling sound. Gaara realized the two fireflies were not bugs at all, and jumped to realize he was looking into two huge eyes. A figure shrouded in the shadows of the forest moved forward. There was little light to see by but Gaara felt no fear. The big creature stared at him and he stared back.

“Little ones should be asleep,” said a very rumbly voice.

“I don’t sleep,” Gaara announced.

The big creature in the shadows made an interested noise.

“You aren’t afraid of me. Most children run.”

“You are very big,” Gaara observed, his green eyes traveling up, up, up to see all of it. It was very big indeed. “Are you going to eat me?”

“I don’t like chatty red heads. Can you be quiet?”

Gaara nodded.

The big monster grumpily settled in beside him. “Well then. You’re lucky. You look so much like _her_. You’d probably give me a bad stomach ache. That’d be my luck… If you can be quiet then I won’t eat you.”

That sounded very nice to Gaara, who was used to sitting quietly all night long, saying nothing.

After some time, the big monster seemed to shift. Gaara sat beside it patiently. He had spent enough nights being very quiet so as not to wake his brother or his father and was very good at it now. It was nice not to be the only one up in the quiet dark. 

He was SO good at it that the silence seemed to stretch and stretch and stretch. There were more rustling noises from the big thing half-hidden by the forest. Gaara wondered if it was itchy; it seemed to be shifting around plenty for someone that requested quiet.

The big monster grumpily broke the silence.

“So. Children have names. You must have one.”

“I’m Gaara. Who are you?”

“Shukaku. I’m a sand demon,” the monster boasted.

That sounded very exciting. Gaara thought Naruto would like the big creature. “Can you throw knives?”

Shukaku laughed loudly. It sounded shrill and made Gaara jump beside him.

“Knives? What use have I for knives? My claws and fangs are sharper than any blade! Here! Watch this.”

The demon swung a paw wide. Three huge trees toppled over. Gaara stared with wide eyes, properly amazed. He had never seen anyone fell a tree in a single blow, and never three at once. It was a very good trick indeed.

“That’s amazing—what else can you do?”

Shukaku chuckled, pleased with his audience, and showed Gaara more of his tricks. He made sand into shapes. He let Gaara ride the sand high up into the tree tops. He even let Gaara climb up to his nose and see his fangs up close. The two forgot their loneliness.

“You said you don’t sleep,” Gaara mentioned as he watched Shukaku make a model of him from sand. “I used to sleep.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Not terribly. But I do miss dreaming.” Gaara looked down at his pale hands and gave up a secret to his new friend. “In my dreams, I had hair like my brother and father. They don’t look like me. I’m different to them. Sometimes I wonder if they’re really my family though they say I am.”

“Do they love you?” Shukaku grunted.

Gaara nods. This he doesn’t have to guess, he knows it without doubt.

“Then they’re your family. Blood runs deeper than skin, human child. You wouldn’t believe the brothers and sisters I have! One is taller than the mountains. Another is vast as the seas. Just because your shapes don’t match doesn’t mean you aren’t of kin.”

Sand gathered by his eye, Gaara realized he was crying, and Shukaku was trying to wipe off his tears.

He scrubbed his face. “You’re getting sand in my eye.”

Shukaku grumbled an apology. Gaara wiped dry his face. Then he smiled.

“Here. Let me make a likeness of them for you; my brother and father. I’ll use your sand.”

The demon laughed and watched the human child work.

* * *

"There he is!"

Yamato nearly shouted his relief. Obito slowed down from a dead sprint as Kakashi and Yamato both darted forward to grab the little boy curled up at the base of a tree. Naruto's knees and hands and face were filthy from ambling around in the undergrowth. His clothing and hair were a mess but worst was the bruise on his ankle which he'd curled up around. It looked painful. 

"Reckless child," Yamato scolded, though he held the little boy very close to his chest, "You've no idea how hard my heart is beating!"

"You worried all of us," Kakashi agreed. "Think of your father."

"Enough. Both of you," Obito snapped, hushing them. "He's terrified and hurt. He never meant to worry anyone and he's fine. The lesson can wait. Kakashi, can your hound spirits sniff out Gaara? The sooner we find his brother and go, the sooner we can return them to their father."

Yamato pet Naruto's hair while he whispered quiet reassurances, rocking the small boy gently. Kakashi summoned up his hunting spirits while Obito bandaged Naruto's leg.

"Take him home," Obito said sternly.

Yamato looked torn. He wanted to help find Gaara, too, but he wanted Naruto safe.

Kakashi nodded. "Yamato, he needs you. Take him back to his father. I promise we'll return to you soon."

The brown-haired boy nodded back, taking Naruto in his arms. One of the blue hound spirits turned to go with him, leading the way safely out of the forest. 

Kakashi turned to Obito who cracked his knuckles with a grin. 

"We're not done hunting. Let's collect our little brother and bring him back home."

His fiery spirit caught on and Kakashi smiled. He summoned up more magic and called forth more blue flames. The little wisps took the shape of dogs again and darted off into the woods. 

* * *

Shukaku grinned at the funny lumps of sand.

"They look very tasty."

"They're not for eating," Gaara announced. "They're my family. Would you like it if I ate your brother or sister?"

"You can try but you'll break your dull little fangs," Shukaku cackled, tickled at the thought of this tiny human even trying to bite Isobu's tough shell or Matatabi's fiery body. 

His ears perked. The sand demon looked up. They weren’t alone.

“Come here,” he said quickly, pulling Gaara by the sand under his chest. “Stay close.”

Gaara nodded, huddling under him.

Shukaku growled as two humans drew close. They drew weapons and shouted. The sand roared and whipped around in a fierce gale. It repelled the attackers. Underneath Shukaku’s belly Gaara couldn’t see them, but he could hear them.

The demon caught up the humans in his sand. It snarled in displeasure.

“Intruders! Your kind is not welcome here! For trespassing I think I’ll make a snack of you…”

Gaara scrambled up over the sand, calling to his new big friend.

“Wait! Please wait!”

Kakashi shouted his relief at seeing the little boy alive and well. “Gaara. You’re alright. Don’t worry, we’ve come to rescue you!”

“It feels like we’re the ones that need rescuing,” Obito grumbled.

Kakashi had to agree. The two of them were trapped by the sand demon. Little Gaara by comparison stood at the monster’s side without an ounce of fear. His green eyes looked up, up, up, to Shukaku’s face.

“I think they’re here for me. I guess it’s time to go.”

“No,” Shukaku muttered angrily. “They can’t have you. You’re mine now. Stay here with me and I’ll make you all sorts of fun. We can play together as long as you like. What do you say?”

Gaara watched the shifting sand change shape. He was so enchanted at the different shapes the sand could take that he missed the teenagers disappearing.

Shukaku grinned toothily.

“Taking things that don’t belong to you again, eh?”

The sand demon froze.

“That voice…”

Gaara looked away from the fun shapes of sand and felt his heart stop.

The most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, with hair as red as his and vibrant violet eyes, stood just beside the shapes in the sand. She wasn’t massive, nearly dwarfing the treetops the way Shukaku was, but something about her foxy grin made Gaara feel as though she was very big indeed.

“K-K-Ku-Ku-“

Shukaku couldn’t speak. His stuttering stopped as the red haired woman shook a finger.

“You out to know better by know, y’know?”

Gaara couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was _gorgeous_. Her hair was like liquid wildfire, flowing behind her. It almost moved as if it were alive. Something woven into all those long, lovely locks caught his eyes. It seemed to move with the wind. Twisting, turning, moving on its own. Gaara realized it was moving, against the wind, on its own. It was a fox’s tail!

And not just one. His green eyes widened as the tail revealed itself from the woman’s long hair, more and more spilling out to swirl lazily behind her.

“So, little brother? What do we do with things that aren’t ours?”

She took a single step forward. Gaara felt the entire world hush. Every sound in the forest seemed to disappear at once. Those long orange-red tails began to slide side to side. Cats looked that way, Gaara thought, just before they pounced.

“We give them back,” Shukaku squeaked quickly. “Here! Take them!”

At once the sand erupted, spitting out the teenagers. The foxy woman smiled.

“There we go! I knew you paid attention last time we learned this lesson.” She traipsed over to the humans as they coughed and fought for air. Calling up some magic, she waved a hand and they were gone from the forest.

“There! I’ve returned them to the places they came from. Next time, just _tell me_ when some humans get lost in our forest! I know you don't like trespassers. It isn’t hard at all to send them home, y’know.”

Then her eyes landed on him.

Gaara felt his heart catch in his chest.

The woman froze, staring back at him, just for an instant.

Then she gave a grin, showing off pointy teeth in a wide wide smile. Those tails whipped around again right before she pounced.

Gaara shouted as he was snatched right off his feet and flung into the air. Floating high up off the ground he could see for an instant the entire forest all around. Then he came back down, falling like a stone straight into her arms.

The landing was good. Gaara slipped into her grip and she spun him around, still clutched tight to her chest, until his head swam.

“Hey! How did ya like that?” The pretty lady asked.

“I almost touched the stars,” he whispered.

“Yeah? And? D’you wanna do it again?”

Gaara nodded breathlessly, eyes shining with anticipation.

The woman laughed loudly and spun for good measure before flinging him high.

This time Gaara put out his arms and legs to catch the wind, gasping as all the breath went out of him the higher he flew. Again at the very top of the forest he seemed to float, adrift on nothing, above everything, for the space of a heart beat.

In that moment he knew no fear or pain or longing at all. He was flying and free.

And then he fell, all the way back down, to where warm arms waited.

The foxy lady laughed again, catching him easily. Gaara buried this time into her chest. When they stopped she started talking again, but Gaara was busy looking at her smooth pale features and beautiful red hair. It wreathed her face, a halo of deep red falling down around those rosy cheeks and smiling white fangs. The sunlight in her smile was too familiar—Gaara didn’t just recognize it. He _knew_ it.

“Mommy.”

The woman blinked.

“Huh? What’d’ya say?”

Gaara repeated himself. “Mommy.”

“That’s not my name. I’m Kushina!”

“Can I call you mommy?”

Kushina blinked her violet eyes and felt a smile wrinkle her face.

“Yeah? You wanna be _mine_ little one? Are you _sure_ that’s what you want?”

“Not just me,” Gaara said quietly.

Kushina’s grin only grew.

* * *

“We have to tell him.”

Yamato shook his head, frustrated at their failure.

“We can’t go back until we have him! Minato will be too sad… if we can’t find Gaara…”

“We have Naruto,” Obito said, trying to pacify the other teenager. “We’ll go back and find Gaara tomorrow. He’s been gone one night. Another won’t kill him.”

It was the wrong thing to say. Yamato choked at the thought, tears coming easily.

Kakashi smacked Obito’s shoulder for his careless words as the brunette cried.

“Don’t say such things! Idiot!”

“Ouch, that hurt!”

“It’s all my fault. I was supposed to watch him,” Yamato worried, wiping his wet face. Kakashi shook his head.

“No. It’s mine. I was the one who said to leave him with Sasuke. We should have watched him together.”

Obito took both their hands, then, and dragged them to Minato’s home. “If it matters so much, then let’s stick together and tell him together. He deserves to know. Let’s go in.”

The three agreed and opened the door to Minato’s house.

They stood in the door in disbelief. Inside was Minato weeping, but not in sorrow. There was laughter and joy in the heart of his house; both his arms were thrown around a beautiful lady with hair red as wildfire. At their legs crowded Naruto and Gaara both, clinging to the woman’s dress, chattering cheerfully. It wasn’t until Naruto noticed them that anyone realized the door was open at all.

“Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-sensei, Obito-nii! Come meet my new mom! She’s a _fox-lady_!”

“Come in,” Minato said, his eyes still wet with tears of his own. “Ah. We were just wondering where you’d gone.”

“Sensei? Who is this?”

“Wow, she’s _really pretty_ ,” Obito mumbled, cheeks pink.

Kushina laughed at his compliment as they piled in all to Minato’s house. There the blonde man explained how Kushina had returned his lost children to him and claimed their house as her own. She pointed out that they’d need to build the house a little bigger if they meant to make it theirs properly.

“Are you going to stay?”

“I am!”

Naruto and Gaara gave up _such_ a cheer! The adults and teenagers laughed at their excitement though the merry mood had spread to them all. Kushina’s fox tails swished around behind her, knocking a few things over, but Minato paid them no mind. His ocean-blue eyes looked only at the woman that would become his new wife, who had brought him his children again, who wanted to make the house he had into a home for their family.

“How lucky I am, to have found you after all.”

“Hey! I’m lucky, too, y’know,” Kushina said with a smirk, flicking his nose. “If it wasn’t for your child I would’ve never met you.”

Minato's smile was warm like the sun. Kushina leaned in cheekily to lay a kiss on his warm cheek. 

"These warm hands are good for holding me," she announced. Yamato and Obito went rosy to see the bold woman take Minato's hand in hers and draw it to her hip to hold. Kakashi felt his own face go warm watching his teacher's face color. The three teenagers made their excuses quickly and fled, Kushina's laughter at their heels. 

"I like this home! I like this family, Minato! I think I'll stay."

"Say you'll stay forever?" Naruto asked, clutching her dress. "Please?"

Gaara asked the same. His eyes were bright with hope. 

"Well? My boys have asked for me but will you have me as husband, and stay and make a home with me?" Minato asked, cheeks darkening even further. 

Kushina's smile seemed to sparkle. 

"I will!"

* * *

And so it went, and so it was, and there they stayed, together for the rest of their long lives. 

**The End**


End file.
